Christmas Break.

I didn't have much access to the internet over break, so this is the first I am able to write. Wow...what an adventure.

My Grandma flew into Charleston on the 23rd, then my parents came in the 24th. We stayed in a nice hotel downtown Charleston for a few nights. There was a big, tall Christmas tree right outside our hotel in Marion Square. We decided to open presents at my aunt's friend's house to have more of the "Christmas feel" to the day. On Saturday, everyone joined me for a day at St. Christopher. We tried to go on a kayaking exercursion...even Grandma:) Half the crew ended up staying on shore and my mom and brother and I headed over to Botany Bay Island. We spent the afternoon exploring and looking for shells. We walked out to Crab Dock to have a campfire and roast smores for the night, but had a few issues getting back to camp. The week prior, we had gotten lots of rain, so the trails that we normally took were flooded and it ended up being quite the adventure trying to get back to camp.

On Sunday, my family came to church with me, then we headed over to the rental house on Isle of Palms to wait for the rest of the family to come in. Thanks to Grandma, we had a house big enough to fit all 16 of us, right on the beach:) The weather forecast didn't look too promising, but we ended up having beautiful weather almost the whole time, thank you Lord. It was fun to have all the cousins and families again for a few days. Of course, there were arguments, but I think that's just part of being a family and living in an imperfect world.

The next Saturday we all moved out and I headed to Atlanta for a Christian Conference called Passion 2010. I met up with GVSU Campus Ministries and stayed in a hotel room with my good friend Laura Donker (picture above) from Camp Geneva. The conference was a gathering of over 21,000 young adults, ages 18-25. Wow, the Lord's spirit was so evident all over. We heard from great speakers like John Piper, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, and Louie Giglio. Our worship leaders were Chris Tomlin, Fee, Matt Redmen, and we attended concerts with the David Crowder Band and Hillsong United. I could talk for hours about what the Lord did at the conference. I feel so blessed to have been a part of such an inspiring movement. There were Global Causes present, including World Vision, Living Water, etc. Our goal was to raise $500,000 for the causes. By the end of the conferences, the students had raised over $600,000. An older couple attending the conference was so moved by the generousity of the students, that they agreed to match that total. So the final amount raised was $1,393,077.42. Praise the Lord! That was more than anyone could have ever imagined. During the worhsip times, it was so moving to see over 21,000 people praising the same Lord, it was like a little foretaste of Heaven. The picture on the left is at a Late Night Hillsong United Concert. I loved the theme verse for Passion. "Yes Lord, walking in the way of Your truth, we wait eagerly for you. For Your name Your renown are the desire of our souls." Isaiah 26:8. You can go to the Passion 2010 website for more information if you're interested.

After Atlanta, I made my way over to Greenville, SC to visit Steph Koch, one of my friends from IWU. She is a highschool math teacher for Eastside Highschool. While she was teaching during the day, I was able to go on some amazing hikes! My first day I went to Jones Gap State Park and hiked up to see Rainbow Falls. The falls were breathtaking with snow and ice all around it. The next day, I headed up to Table Rock State Park. Table rock is a large rock face on the top of a mountain. It was a pretty strenuous hike, but the view was so rewarding at the top! There were few people on the trail because of the "cold weather." When I got to the top, I saw 3 guys; we acknowledged each other, and then a few minutes later they looked at me again and said, "did you hike this by yourself?" I replied, "Yep!" I think they were a little shocked, but that's nothing new.

On Friday I headed by to Charleston and stayed with my aunt. It is pretty cold here, the temp has been below 32 the past few days. When we got back from eating out, my aunt made the biggest cup of hot chocolate I had ever seen...meanwhile I made myself a Peppermint Milkshake:) I thought the occassion was picture worthy:)

I arrived back at St. Christopher today to prepare for the new semester. My good friend Leah Andersen from IWU recently filled the open staff position here, so I look forward to living with her again and being on staff together!

I am looking forward to the New Year and seeing what God has in store. "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless unitl the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11.